Defense lawyers for 26 men arrested in a televised raid by police looking for gays at an Egyptian bathhouse criticized the prosecution’s case Sunday, saying it is based on a faulty investigation and only one police officer’s testimony. The raid was part of an ongoing crackdown on gays in Egypt, described by activists as the worst in more than a decade. While consensual gay and lesbian relationships are not specifically outlawed in Egypt, there is a societal taboo against same-sex couples. A private TV station’s crew filmed the men’s arrest, saying it tipped off police to a bathhouse “hosting men...

Dennis Rodman checking himself into an alcohol rehabilitation center upon returning from a trip to North Korea was the first news all over the U.S. media, but at that time, he confirmed only to the fact that he is an addict and has never recovered from the habit. But according to a report cited by Free North Korea Radio, he was practically forced out of the hermit kingdom for his full-blown drunk and disorderly behavior. “Rodman was drunk the whole week of his stay. And the night before he left for the U.S., he was drunk unconscious, and vomited everywhere...

Santa Claus came early to San Francisco this year, but he forgot his long pants. As did quite a few of the hundreds of other Santas, and several of their helpers, who gathered by the Christmas tree in Union Square on Saturday. The Santas were kicking off the start of this year's SantaCon, a worldwide event that features a daylong bar crawl that sends many of its participants to the naughty list. The jingling bells, holiday-colored sequins, mistletoe and fake, cottony beards met in Union Square before heading off to the bars in various other neighborhoods throughout the city. Many...

Barack Obama is offering us a Latin-American future. Unless things change, the man (or woman) elected in 2012 will be the last American president to preside over the world’s leading economy. If things get really bad, he will find himself presiding over the early stages of American collapse. Not “decline” but “collapse.” “Decline” is what happens when you’re Britain in the 1940s, and you cede global dominance to a major ally that shares your language, legal system, cultural inheritance, and broad geopolitical objectives. That deal isn’t on offer this time round. ... In the real world, debt ceilings are determined...

Apparently thousands turned out for the Gay Pride Parade in Salt Lake City, Utah today. I am not sorry to say I was not among them. Men in speedos, drag, and diesel dykes don't appeal to me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against these people, just not very accepting of their behind closed doors lifestyle. As a straight white, conservative, Christian male I feel I would be horribly out of place cheering on people with pierced nipples in tights with visible outlines of "packages."

I am trying to relax and watch Star Wars on a beautiful Christmas morning. However, my enjoyment quickly turned to disgust and I had to send the children out of the room and change the channel. Star Wars, obviously an American icon and children's favorite, was interrupted every 8 minutes or so, to sell female self pleasure devices, i.e., vibrators. When they were not selling vibrators, they were selling some kind of lubricated condom guaranteeing his and her fantastic pleasure. Now keep in mind this is in the morning, before noon, on Christmas morning during Star Wars. Who is more...

US artist Spencer Tunick will fill Mexico City's Zocalo square - the centre of the ancient Aztec empire and the heart of modern Mexico - with thousands of naked Mexicans next week for his latest mass nude photo shoot. Tunick, who was refused permission to stage his nude photo shoot at Mexico's famed Teotihuacan pyramids outside the capital, has been granted permission to use the Zocalo for his shoot next Sunday (local time), local media reported. The Mexico City Government was not available for comment. One of the world's biggest and most imposing squares, the Zocalo is framed by the...

Rosie O'Donnell wasn't the only lesbian rocking the stage at a recent "View" taping. TMZ has learned that after the taping of an episode of the chat show, audience members were kept in the studio for a performance by "All My Children's" resident male-to-female transgendered British lesbian rockstar, Zarf/Zoe/Freddy. The "View" set doubled for a fictional episode of Erica Kane's own Pine Valley talker, "New Beginnings." In the episode which aired Tuesday, Erica (Susan Lucci) introduced Zarf -- now referred to as Zoe -- who sang "The Me Inside" to a packed house of shocked Long Island yentas and vacationing...

Which is a shame, because I love scifi above all other genres. John Ringo is one of modern science fiction’s most talented authors. His writing is interesting, entertaining, action-packed, and even thought provoking. The problem is that his stories are laced with very graphic sex and sexual themes. Call me a prude, but I don’t want to pollute my mind with that stuff. There is a time and place for sexuality; in a book for cheap entertainment is not the time or place. Ringo has right-leaning politics, which is nice change in a best-selling author...

Hurricane postpones another homosexual party Theme for Florida Keys Fantasy Fest: 'Freaks, Geeks, and Goddesses' Wild costumes and plenty of exposed skin are common at the annual Fantasy Fest in Key West, Fla. For the second time this year, an Atlantic hurricane is forcing the postponement of a popular homosexual event filled with "unthinkable debauchery." The annual Fantasy Fest in Key West, Fla., had been slated to kick off today, but the threat of Hurricane Wilma is putting a damper on the festivities, delaying events until after the storm passes. "We've never had a hurricane interfere with Fantasy Fest, at...

New finds from an archaeological site near Mexico City support certain written and pictorial evidence concerning Aztec human sacrifice that historians previously doubted because the accounts seemed too exaggerated to be true. The discovery adds to the growing collection of evidence supporting human sacrifice and cannibalism among the founders of the Mexican empire. It also suggests that researchers might now be able to verify some 16th century Spanish accounts on the subject. The Spanish and the Aztecs documented at least four observations of cannibalism in the 16th and 17th centuries. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), whose men conquered the Aztecs...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

I was Cipel's lover... ...and he's still in love with the gov, says prof BY RALPH R. ORTEGA, ALISON GENDAR and NANCY DILLONDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS The mystery man who claims to be Golan Cipel's ex-lover said yesterday that not only is the handsome Israeli gay - he's also still in love with Gov. Jim McGreevey. "Golan says he's not gay? He could have fooled me," Dr. David Miller of Livingston, N.J., told the Daily News yesterday, as he claimed that he had a gay affair with the ex-McGreevey aide. "We love each other. Is that a crime? We're...

RUSSELL Halley takes pride in being able to do the splits as well as any woman on the dance floor. His partner, Jorge Guzman, can spin faster than the female competition. So when the two men don their see-through chiffon shirts to dance together, they alternate the lead. "I can send Jorge into a triple spin and catch him, and vice versa - even in the course of one move," Mr Halley boasts. "We can change place instantly. From an audience point of view it can be very exciting." The duo are at the forefront of an upheaval in America's...

A hundred Hindu fundamentalists have attacked and vandalized cinemas in several Indian towns, tearing down posters of the recently released film Girlfriend. The film deals with lesbianism and related themes. The fundamentalists see this as an affront to Indian culture. The most censorious critics, however, have been India’s gay and lesbian activists. They say the film is a 'homophobic, hetero-patriarchal' portrayal of lesbianism in India. They charge director Karan Razdan of creating a "conscious, articulated homophobia" for mass consumption. Girlfriend is a candyfloss drama about two close women friends who sleep in the same bed and share—explicitly, on screen—a...

I want to throw out a question to fellow FReepers out there: Now that Massachusetts courts have forced homosexual/perverted "marriage" on that state--and the fact that the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution will force every other state to deal with it--what will your reaction be? I'm assuming, of course, that consistant conservatives (please shut-up libertarians, this question is not for you, OK?) will fight it, hopefully with a constitutional ammendment. There is however, a lot of doubt that such an ammendment will ever pass, and even if it does, it will take several years. Surely other states...

Northampton, Massachusetts-AP -- A different sort of educational experience for a group of fourth- through sixth-graders in Northampton, Massachusetts. The students from the Solomon Schechter Day School went to Town Hall today to witness the first day of legal gay and lesbian marriages in Massachusetts. The students have been studying the civil rights movement. One of their teachers said today's proceedings offered a chance to see a bit of history in the making. Among those applying for their marriage licenses were several sets of parents from the school. The kids cheered as couples emerged from City Hall with their documents...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's multi-billion-dollar adult porn industry ground to a virtual halt on Thursday after a popular actor tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS (news - web sites). Industry advocates immediately called for a 60-day moratorium on filming so that others could be tested. Actor Darren James tested positive for HIV (news - web sites) on Wednesday in screening conducted routinely on the industry's 1,200 regular actors by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM) Foundation, the foundation's Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell (news) said. They must show negative tests to keep working in the industry, Mitchell said, adding...

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The parents of a first-grader are fuming over the book their daughter brought home from the school library: a children's story about a prince whose true love turns out to be another prince. Michael Hartsell said he and his wife, Tonya, couldn't believe it when Prince Bertie, the leading character in ``King & King,'' waves off a bevy of eligible princes before falling for Prince Lee. The book ends with the princes marrying and sharing a kiss. ``I was flabbergasted,'' Hartsell said. ``My child is not old enough to understand something like that, especially when it is...

Let me set the scene. You're sitting in traffic with your 4-year-old. Suddenly you notice she's watching with rapt interest something in the next car. You glance over and realize that the other vehicle is equipped with one of those DVD screens that are available on certain late-model cars. The option is usually marketed as a way of keeping kids quiet on long road trips. But what the folks over there are watching is more loin king than "Lion King." Because there onscreen, before your daughter's steadily widening eyes, is a pair of exceedingly fit people using their private parts...

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — Twenty-one gay couples exchanged wedding vows on the steps of village hall Friday in a spirited ceremony that opened another front on the growing national debate over gay marriage. As the ceremonies by 26-year-old Mayor Jason West were ending, the state Health Department asked the attorney general to seek an injunction "to prevent further illegal conduct by the mayor," a department spokesman said. A call to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office was not immediately returned. West, elected on the Green Party ticket last year in this village 75 miles north of New York City, joined...

Father who married daughter ordered back to prison MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A 53-year-old man was sent back to prison after a judge decided the man had violated a probation order barring him from cohabitation with his 30-year-old daughter, who is also his former wife. Mobile County Circuit Judge John Lockett ordered Carroll Eugene Ferdinandsen to prison on Thursday after determining he violated a probation order barring him from cohabitation with Alice Ferdinandsen. Each had pleaded guilty to incest last summer in connection with their May 2003 civil marriage in Mobile County and served six months in jail before...

Oscar-nominated actress Charlize Theron has spoken out in favor of gay marriage, branding those like Arnold Schwarzenegger who oppose it "prehistoric". The Monster star, who grew up around a number of gay and bisexual people in her native South Africa, is appalled that gay marriage is still up for debate in this day and age. Theron, currently dating Irish actor Stuart Townsend, says, "I just don't understand that at all. It's so unbelievably frustrating. "I mean, I am surrounded by so many beautiful relationships just in my life, I can't tell you - just so inspirational. And the fact that...

A few weeks ago I visited Colorado University Boulder to give a talk on "diversity." CU Boulder is saturated with diversity chatter; it has its full complement of diversiphile administrators; and the campus culture has elevated the ideal of "diversity" into a principle that trumps everything else: intellectual freedom, fairness in distribution of financial aid, and a cogent curriculum. In other words, Boulder was a good place to bring my message that "diversity" is really a doctrine that divides and stultifies. But the timing wasn't great: The football scandal that was about to engulf CU Boulder had just broken. The...

<p>AMES, Iowa -- A student bondage club at Iowa State University has been charged with violating university rules after a flogging demonstration in December.</p>
<p>The school's Office of Judicial Affairs charged the group Cuffs with assault in violation of the Student Conduct Code and Iowa law.</p>

SAN FRANCISCO - After sanctioning more than 2,700 gay marriages in the past week, the city said Thursday it is suing the state of California, challenging its ban on same-sex marriages on constitutional grounds. City Attorney Dennis Herrera planned to file the suit in the afternoon, said his spokesman, Matt Dorsey. Two judges already are considering challenges from conservative groups seeking to halt the marriage spree that began last Thursday. The city's lawsuit asks that those cases be consolidated into one case. The city is asking Superior Court Judge James Warren to declare unconstitutional two sections of the California Family...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) said Wednesday he was "troubled" by gay weddings in San Francisco and by legal decisions in Massachusetts that could clear the way for same-sex marriage. But he declined to say whether he is any closer to backing a constitutional ban on such vows. "I have watched carefully what's happening in San Francisco, where licenses were being issued, even though the law states otherwise," Bush said. "I have consistently stated that I'll support law to protect marriage between a man and a woman. Obviously these events are influencing my decision." "I am watching...

Legalization of same-sex marriage would be a seismic event across this culture. Nothing would ever be the same. Every young child asks his parents, "Can boys [or girls] get married to each other"? If the answer changes from "no" to "yes," homosexuality would have then achieved equal status with heterosexual conduct and marriage. This equivalence would be taught in schools, observed in the workplace and eventually imposed even on churches. If the answer becomes "yes" there will doubtless be a dramatic increase in the incidence of homosexuality. Sexual arousal is a mystical thing, subject to conditioning. How else can one...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The hundreds of gay and lesbian weddings performed in San Francisco since Thursday will stand at least through the week-end after a Superior Court judge denied a motion to halt and nullify the same-sex marriages. Following the ruling, which delayed further legal action until at least Tuesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom opened the floodgates, extending city clerk hours until 6 p.m. Friday evening -- with ceremonies likely conducted until midnight. And as if adding an exclamation point, he also announced weekend hours for today, Sunday and the Monday holiday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., no appointment necessary....

<p>If they wanted, Comcast subscribers could have watched "Table Top Sex" on the Spice channel Thursday night. Or they could have caught "Boob Mania 6." Or "Barely Legal 39."</p>
<p>Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, is one of the most far-reaching distributors of pornography, offering subscribers a moaning, groaning melange of what's euphemistically called "adult entertainment" -- and profiting handsomely from the deal.</p>

Monday, Jan. 26, 2004Sex Education in Amherst A high school takes on a controversial play ByNATHAN THORNBURGH This Feb. 14, V won't stand for just valentine at Amherst Regional High School in Amherst, Massachusets. The local school board and superintendent last month approved a student request to stage The Vagina Monologues the night before Valentine's Day as part of a national campaign to call attention to violence against women. The theater piece, written by Eve Ensler, has played off-Broadway and in all-star benefits around the country and the world on Valentine's Day for the past six years. But this...

<p>THE ISSUE: CBS's decision to ban Janet Jackson from Sunday night's Grammys.</p>
<p>I'm so glad that CBS is giving Janet Jackson the boot from the Grammys ("Grammys Boot Janet - Shamed CBS Execs Can't Bare to Put Her on Again," Feb. 5). She certainly hasn't done her brother any good with her disgusting actions. I think the whole Jackson family has some screws loose - particularly that Jacko nut. That Justin Timberlake is also a joke. Does he actually think anyone believes that he didn't know what would happen at the halftime show? Ruth Lindemann Colorado Springs, Colo.</p>

Complaints Pour in to FCC Over Super Bowl FlashFri February 06, 2004 06:10 PM ET By Peter Kaplan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Upset television viewers have filed more than 200,000 complaints about Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance at the Super Bowl, a record for the Federal Communication Commission, officials said on Friday. Gripes over the flash of Jackson's breast last Sunday easily eclipsed the FCC's previous record -- 80,000 complaints that came after television actress Nicole Richie used a curse word on the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, the agency said. "The vast majority express outrage that this occurred during a family...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- The one-second flash of Janet Jackson's breast at the Super Bowl could end up putting the brakes on years of plunging standards in the down-and-dirty entertainment industry.</p>
<p>"This particular event might be, for the moment, the straw that broke the camel's back on the patience of the audience," said talk show host Carson Daly, a veteran presence on MTV, which produced the offending halftime show. "Tolerance of this sort of sexual imagery may have reached its peak."</p>

Hoping to follow former Bond girls such as Halle Berry, Jane Seymour and Ursula Andress, Britney Spears met in London recently with the producers of the James Bond movies, reportedly at her request. Spears' Web site says she has signed on to produce and star in an adaptation of author Tobi Tobin's Door to Door, in which she will play a teenager trying to catch her big break in Hollywood.

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 Post-Super Bowl, Bare Breasts on 'ER' Raise AlarmOnly days after the firestorm created when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Super Bowl, plans to air an episode of "ER" on NBC Thursday evening that includes a view of an elderly female patient's bare breast are raising serious concerns among the network's affiliates. Some NBC affiliates are so uneasy about the scene planned for the first night of sweeps that at least one station group executive described himself Tuesday as "considering what my options are" should NBC decide to air the hour with the exposed breast....

<p>NEW YORK — Janet Jackson's red lace garment was supposed to remain over her breast when Justin Timberlake tore off part of her bustier during their Super Bowl halftime performance, the superstar said through a spokeswoman Tuesday.</p>
<p>In a statement released Monday night, Jackson said the stunt that revealed a breast clad only in a sun-shaped "nipple shield" in front of some 89 million viewers went awry after being planned at the last minute.</p>

McDonald's To Drop Timberlake Sponsorship - Timberlake also stood to jeopardize a marketing relationship with McDonald's although a spokesman for the fast food giant said Monday -- while declining to say whether Timberlake will appear in future ads -- "everyone involved has said it was an unfortunate incident and their apologies are in order."

<p>February 3, 2004 -- CBS is moving to bounce Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake from next Sunday's Grammy Awards amid the national uproar following their X-rated, prime-time Super Bowl stunt. Sources told The Post the network will demand the two stars be tossed from 46th Annual Grammy Awards if CBS's probe shows the duo schemed in advance to expose Jackson's pierced breast during the halftime spectacle.</p>